Joseph Tsai, cofounder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is buying a 49% stake in the Brooklyn Nets in a deal that values the team at $2.3 billion, a record for the National Basketball Association. Tsai has the option to purchase a controlling stake in four years. The deal does not include Barclays Center, the Nets' home court. [The Wall Street Journal]

First charges coming in Mueller's Russian probe

At least one person has been indicted as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign and could be arrested as soon as today. The identity of the person or persons is not known nor are the nature of the charges. Any charges would be the first stemming from Mueller's probe. [The Wall Street Journal]

Plus: In reaction to the impending charges, President Donald Trump tweeted attacks on Hillary Clinton. [The New York Times]

Myriad trends—including population and job gains, as well as rising tax revenue—are reinforcing the construction boom. The overall result is increased employment in the building trades. Construction industry employment is expected to pass 150,000 in 2018—30,000 more than the annual average for much of the past decade. [Greg David on New York]

NY medical society exec warns on CVS-Aetna deal

Federal regulators should investigate CVS Health's possible purchase of insurer Aetna for more than $66 billion, according to Dr. Charles Rothberg, president of the Medical Society of the State of New York. Though the deal would deliver CVS drugstores more customers, it's not clear how it would help patients, Rothberg said. [Crain’s Health Pulse]

Storm protection still priority in Lower Manhattan: op-ed

Lower Manhattan has flourished since Hurricane Sandy devastated it five years ago this week but still needs hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term protections against a similar storm in the future, according to a Crain’s op-ed by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and Jessica Lappin, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York. [Crain’s New York Business]

Plus: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is forming a new unit to deal with storms, blackouts and heat waves. [New York Post]

Also: The city will spend $145 million in local and federal funds on seven park projects designed as flood protection for the Rockaways, in Queens. [Daily News]

New state Dems chief to focus on 2018

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has chosen Geoff Berman to succeed Basil Smikle as executive director of the state Democratic Party. Smikle will become a senior adviser. Berman, who worked on President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign and for a gun control group founded by Michael Bloomberg, will focus on 2018 races. [Daily News]

Financing close for major Crown Heights development

Developer Ian Bruce Eichner has reached a tentative deal with the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust to finance a $500 million, 1.2 million-square-foot residential project in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. About half of its units would be set aside as affordable. Under terms of the financing, the project—at Franklin Avenue and Montgomery Street—would use only union workers. [The Wall Street Journal]

Plus: The new owner of 550 Madison Ave. hopes renovations will allow the office building to command rents of between $115 and $210 a square foot. [The Wall Street Journal]

How the sausage too often gets made in NY

The interplay between billionaires Douglas Durst and Barry Diller and Gov. Andrew Cuomo over the Pier 55 complex on Hudson River Park illustrates how modern New York works, according to Crain’s Editor Jeremy Smerd. When Cuomo agreed to find the money to complete the park, which abuts Durst property, Durst dropped his opposition to Diller’s Pier 55. [Crain’s New York Business]

Bassist reaches high point in New York

Bassist Jason DiMatteo has built a career in the city over the past 25-plus years, first working odd jobs to support his musical ambitions and now finding regular work in five bands. The Oregon transplant's big break came when he met Village Voice critic Greg Tate, who hired DiMatteo for his ensemble. [Crain’s New York Business]

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